Lectures That Work

“Whither College Lectures? Maybe Right Out the Door” wrote William Honan in the New York Times on August 14, 2002. Like it or not, the traditional lecture is a highly efficient way of conveying a large amount of information to a large number of students in a short period of time. Questions linger over the value of lectures, and the amount of learning that actually occurs during a lecture or as a result of a lecture.

If you find that lectures are necessary for your discipline or teaching style, check out our schedule to see if there are workshops or seminars that could help maximize your lectures.

Here are some Internet resources that provide some additional information:

Bligh, Donald A. (2000). What’s the Use of Lectures? San Francisco: Jossey Bass. In this book, Bligh describes the kinds of information that are best delivered through lecture format, how to effectively organize a lecture, and how to integrate active learning into a lecture without throwing the lecture away. Helpful guidance about student note taking is also included.